Theatrefolk Podcast: Playwright Jeffrey Harr

Episode 79: Playwright Jeffrey Harr

Jeffrey Harr is a English Teacher with a sparse theatre background. He was handed the student one act play festival with no guide or instruction. How did he turn the festival into a mostly student-written venture? We also talk about the universal and relevant high school themes explored in his play Stereotype High.

Show Notes

• Stereotype High by Jeffrey Harr
• Using Arts Statistics (article with printable infographic!)

Episode Transcript

Welcome to TFP, The Theatrefolk Podcast. I am Lindsay Price, resident playwright for Theatrefolk. Hello! I hope you’re well. Thanks for listening.

Today, we’re talking plays, talking playwrights. I’ve got Jeffrey Harr who is the author of Stereotype High – a new play in the Theatrefolk catalogue – and we are really happy to have this script in our catalogue. Not only that, it is a big full-length play, and then some of the vignettes from that play have been pulled out and they are on their own as ten-minute plays. We’ve never done this before for a script and it’s really great to be able to offer this.

And the script deals with one of the most universal and relevant themes of what it means to be in high school, and to be a teenager, and that’s being labelled, right? Once you’re put in a box in school, it’s really hard to climb out, and this is particularly true of students who do things that some folks and – I’m putting it right out there – adults who don’t want to admit that teens do certain things, right? You know, take drugs, have sex, or – you know, God forbid! – swear. But the point is that teens do this because teens are human beings, and teens want to experience things, and they falter and they fail just like adults do. They do human things.

What I like about Stereotype High is that the characters are trying to fight their way out of the box that life, or society, or environment has put them in. So, you can find out more about Stereotype High in the show notes which you can find at theatrefolk.com/episode79. Okay.

So, Jeffrey, Jeffrey is an English teacher with a sparse theatre background who was handed the Student One-Act Play Festival at his school with no guide or instruction and you’ve really got to listen in to learn how he turned the festival into a mostly student-written venture and how he encouraged his students to write by starting to write himself. Love that.

Okay. Here we go.

Lindsay: All right! Hello everybody! I am here today and we have a playwright that I’m going to you today on the podcast – one of Theatrefolk’s new authors – we have Jeffrey Harr. Hello, Jeffrey!

Jeffrey: Hi there!

Lindsay: And Jeffrey has a full-length that he has published with us called Stereotype High – which we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of that in a little bit – and then a whole bunch of very short ten-minute plays with some awesome titles such as You’re Cosplaying My Song and Master of Puppets and we’ll get into those as well.

How are you, Jeffrey?

Jeffrey: I’m doing really well. Thanks.

Lindsay: Awesome! And tell everybody in the world where you are.

Jeffrey: I am in beautiful Kent, Ohio – home of the black squirrels.

Lindsay: Okay. Now, who are the black squirrels?

Jeffrey: We have, like, one of the largest black squirrel populations on the planet.

Lindsay: Oh.

Jeffrey: I know.

Lindsay: Really?

Jeffrey: Pretty cool.

Lindsay: Is it cool though?

Jeffrey: They really are. They’re quite nice and friendly. I know, some people are probably freaked out by that but they’re pretty cool.

Lindsay: You know, we have squirrels, and the thing that always amazes me about them is that the noise that they make – which always seems very nervous – and this nervous shriek that comes out of a squirrel which I always, when I see them in a tree and there’s this nervous twitching little animal making these noises, ah, it just makes me want to write a twitchy, nervous character. What can I say?

Jeffrey: That’s okay.

Lindsay: That is okay. And so, you are an English teacher, right?

Jeffrey: Yup!

Lindsay: And how long have you been a teacher?

Jeffrey: I have been teaching – let’s see – about twenty-four years.

Lindsay: So, you’re an English teacher. What’s your connection to Drama?

Jeffrey: I was the Drama director at our middle school for four years. And then, when I transferred up to the high school, I became the assistant there for the past nine years.

Lindsay: So, what does that mean if you’re the assistant Drama director?

Jeffrey: I didn’t have any theatre background whatsoever. I just really loved plays and always loved

reading and writing plays and attending plays and love of theatre. So, it was kind of a cool opportunity because I said, “You know, I want to transfer up there so I can teach up there,” and they said, “There’s an opening as the assistant.” I was like, “Cool.” I’d never met the director before and I was like, “All right.” She was fairly new. This was her, like, second year teaching altogether. So, I went up there and met her and we started working together. It started as assisting. I’m kind of like second guy in charge kind of thing so I get to, like, do props and costuming and advice on scripts. She does most of the directing but I do a lot of the behind-the-scenes kind of stuff and still get to work with the kids and all.

Lindsay: Cool.

Jeffrey: It’s really pretty cool, yeah.

Lindsay: So, in your life, how did you sort of get into the notion that going to plays was a good thing? Like, do you remember the first play that you saw?

Jeffrey: God, that’s a good question.

Lindsay: Yeah, let’s just start with that.

Jeffrey: You know, I really don’t. I mean, my parents used to take me to high school shows. My brother was in drama. I do remember, like, some of the musicals. You know, they did all of the common stuff at Oklahoma’s and that kind of thing. But I just remember in high school being taken to them and it just kind of stuck. You know, I mean, what’s cooler than live theatre? I mean, honestly.

Lindsay: Okay.

Jeffrey: I’m like, “This is awesome.” I mean, it was pretty cool and I didn’t do it in high school. I don’t know why. Everybody is like, “You’re so animated. You should have been in theatre,” and I’m like, “Yeah, I probably should have but I just – I don’t know – I never did it, but I sure love to go.”

Lindsay: Hey, you know what? Whatever keeps you interested. You know, like, maybe for some people it’s the acting of it, for some people it’s the writing of it which you also do, and for some it’s just being in a theatre and being in the dark. I think it’s just such a special experience, you know, with the audience and sort of what’s going on on-stage. I mean, the whole notion of being in a blackened theatre is one of the reasons that I write because I love that experience.

Jeffrey: Yeah, it’s very cool.

Lindsay: Okay. So, you went and you like to watch theatre. So, what sort of kicked in that you wanted to start writing?

Jeffrey: Well, I’ve always liked to write. So, I thought, when we were doing one-acts at our school and I’m kind of charge of the One-Act Festival which is kind of my job. I learned as the assistant

director, it’s like, “You get to do the One-Act.” So, I was like, “Oh, all right.” So, we had, like, our kids do four or five one-act shows. You know, as a festival, we run it over three nights and I didn’t really know anything about it and we were just kind of, like, picking plays out of the sky. I mean, I kind of took it on from the person who’d done it, you know, the previous twenty years or whatever. And they were just kind of like, “Oh, here’s how it works. You know, the kids pick their own plays and they direct them,” and I’m like, “All right. So, where are they picking them from?” You know, so we were picking some shows – we meaning the kids – that were really not great. I mean, I didn’t appreciate some of them. They were trying to do things, you know, written for, you know, mature adults. Like, these stories about guys who were looking back on their lives after, you know, being close to death – that kind of stuff – and I’m like, “This is just not working for me, you know?” And so, it took me a couple of years to figure out that we needed to do something much different.

And so, I started. I’m like, “You know, there’s no reason we can’t do this ourselves, you know? Wouldn’t that be cool?” So, I got some of the more creative kids that I had in my classes and we started writing some shows. Like, we’d start out with, like, skits, you know, and just kind of see what happens and we started writing some stuff. And I had one girl named Lucy who was one of my favorite kids ever – you know, that quirky, weird kind of kid that we all love – who was just cranking these things out. I’m like, “You know, we can do these,” and she was like, “Really?” I’m like, “Yeah. Why not, man?” You know, so we started just doing some of what the kids were writing and then I said, “I’m going to write too,” because, you know, I like to write. So, we just all kind of started cranking these things out and then we started producing and we realized that it was a hell of a lot more fun than what they were doing before and that audiences loved them because we were focusing more on comedy and they were a little shorter and much more about adolescence. So, it turned out really, really to be a great thing. So, that’s kind of where it all started. And then, from then on, I just am like, “I’m going to keep writing,” and the kids have kept writing. Every year now, three out of the five shows we do are written by students.

Lindsay: That’s awesome. Well, what a great experience for them, too. Not only to be encouraged to write which, I think, is half the battle because, in school, I mean, they’re told so often, they’re criticized so often for their writing. I think creative writing is sometimes hard to get them to engage in because they don’t want to be told that it’s wrong. And the thing about, you know, theatrical writing is that what you put on the page is right, right? You

know, like, the way you write for your characters or whatever. And then, what an awesome thing for you to say, like, “I’m going to write with them.” Like, what a great idea! If you want to get them to write, why not do it too? I think that’s an awesome thing to sort of throw out there to teachers who are trying to get their students to write and maybe write with them.

Jeffrey: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we collaborated. There’s been a few over the years, you know, where the kids needed some help. And, as long as the kid’s cool with it, you know, it’s been really kind of a cool thing to sit down with the kid and kind of work through a play together.

Lindsay: It sort of sounds like a community thing, and a safe thing!

Jeffrey: Yeah, and it makes me feel really good about our drama guild that, you know, the kids are that invested, that they’re willing to all kind of work together and pitch in to make it a show as opposed to, “Well, this is my play.” It’s kind of like “our play” at that point and I think that’s really cool.

Lindsay: Yeah. I think, what a great way to approach a One-Act Festival as opposed to something that’s a chore, you know, or something that’s possessive.

Jeffrey: Oh, it’s all about them. I mean, they direct them. I mean, heck, they wrote, you know, three-quarters of it themselves. They direct it, they produce it, they do everything. My job as the adviser is kind of just to be, you know, supportive. But I do very little in the way of anything other than just kind of, you know, “What do you guys need?” So, it is really, really gratifying.

Lindsay: And do you find that they really, like, they really step up and they are able to?

Jeffrey: Oh, they can do it. You know, our kids, they’re bright and they’re creative. I think they’re so much more invested because they’ve done it all themselves, you know, and they really do care about the product, and it’s a wonderful thing. We set it up on our stage and we have risers so it’s basically a ten-by-twelve stage with three or four levels of seating, but you’re about two feet away from the action so it’s phenomenal.

Lindsay: And it must be really awesome too because that’s the thing about playwriting is that you can do it in the classroom but it’s not until you see it and it’s not until you see it staged, and it must be really awesome for those who come and see the plays too about this product that their son or daughter has accomplished.

Jeffrey: Right. Yeah, the people are always amazed. They’re like, “Oh, a student wrote that?” I’m like, “Absolutely.” You know, like, they’re totally shocked or something. Like, you know, “Was it written by some adult somewhere?” I’m like, “You know, these kids are

brilliant. They just need a push and a little bit of incentive.” But yeah, it’s pretty cool. It’s nice to see an audience react too, you know, because you never get to see that until you actually do it.

Lindsay: I’m always amazed at what teenagers can do, and what people think they can’t do.

Jeffrey: Oh, yeah. Well, they’re parents. I mean, they know that their kids are bright but I think, until you’re sitting there in the audience with another hundred-fifty people who are watching, they’re just like, “Oh, my God. I can’t believe this is happening.” You know, it’s really cool.

Lindsay: Okay. So, you started out, you started doing little vignettes, moments, bits and pieces, and starting in the short plays. What was the thing that made you go, “I can make this,” craft it into a longer, full-length play?

Jeffrey: It’s not like I wanted to expand on them a little bit, you know, because I was really happy with the short plays, but I thought, “How cool would it be to kind of put them together?” and I kind of

saw a theme running through a lot of them about these teens who were trying to break out of who everybody thinks they are, and I thought, “Well, that sounds like a theme I can work with.” So, I just wrote a couple more and I thought, “Well, what I need here is like a thread to string them all together.” So, I came up with this idea of the stereotype being, like, kind of the connecting theme with all these different kids. And so, every vignette is kind of tied to the next one where the kid’s in the one scene, and then ends up in the next scene, and it just kind of piggybacks that way, and I thought, “I could connect them all that way.” And it worked, and I really like vignette plays – a lot. There’s something about having those different, you know, kind of separate scenes but, you know, loosely tied together that I think it’s a really cool thing for the actors to really get to flesh a character out, you know, in this kind of fifteen-minute scene.

Lindsay: What I really like about these characters specifically is that they all do, yes, embody some kind of stereotype but they are desperately interested in fighting it, and what a relevant, I mean, it’s such a universally relevant high school theme – to fight the box that you have put yourself in or that someone else has put you in. You know, what a great thing to explore on theatrically, I think.

Jeffrey: Yeah, I would think it would be a lot of fun. I mean, I’ve never acted but I’m goofy as hell and I think I could totally see myself doing these. You know, if you’re writing the character and you’d actually want to do it, I think that says a lot for the character, you know, and you’re like, “I think I could have a lot of fun with this,” because some of these characters, they’re just tired of being who they are. And, I mean, don’t we all get to that point sometimes when you’re just, like, too far in yourself, you know, where you’re just like, “I’ve got to do something different,” even if it would freak people out, it’d just be fun.

Lindsay: Speaking of freaking people out, another thing in this play is that some of the characters are true to life which means that, you know, the things that administers cover their heads and go “la-la-la-la-la!” about – not sex and drugs.

Jeffrey: Yeah.

Lindsay: Did you have anybody freak out on you when you presented this play that had these characters who are very real, i.e. they do things that real teenagers do? And I know that’s a shock for some people to hear that, yes, there are teenagers out there who are taking drugs and having sex – shocker! Did you have any resistance?

Jeffrey: No. I mean, some people read things, you know, we all read scripts like that. Sometimes we’re just like, “Ehh. Ahh. Should I?” You know, “How are people going to react to that?” But, you’re right. It’s about reality. These are kids. I mean, we can lie to ourselves that they’re not doing some of this stuff but it’s really hard to have a play where you deal with anything even remotely realistic and not deal with issues with sex and drugs. Let’s face it. It’s just part of their world. It’s just what they deal with. Even if they’re not doing it, they’re immersed in it. So, I just kind of felt like, as long as it’s not anything that make people go, “Oh, there’s no way in hell I could put that on stage,” then it’s not. We talk about it in the show but it’s not done in a way that’s going to make somebody, you know…

Lindsay: Well, I think that the characters who do that are so human which I think is really important. I think it’s really important to show people like teenagers who do these things as three-dimensional.

Jeffrey: Right.

Lindsay: You know, there’s always, well, the stereotype of the drug addicts, you know, as being out to lunch and not having any brain power, you know?

Jeffrey: Right.

Lindsay: Or the slut who also doesn’t have, like, you know, a thought in their head. And to show that these are people and they’re human – which I think that’s another thing that people don’t want. They don’t want to know that teenagers are human.

Jeffrey: Right. Yeah, I mean, I agree. That’s kind of the whole issue as, you know, that’s the stereotype problem. It’s like, “Well, if she sleeps around then she must be a bad person,” and it’s like, “No, she’s just a person and she’s really dealing with it, you know, the best way that she can,” and I like to have the characters kind of, you know, this is what they’re doing – they’re dealing with it and they’re making their way. I mean,

they are kids. They’re not going to have it all figured out yet. And, like, to see them on stage working through those problems. And what I like is to have other kids who have different issues trying to help them through that. I mean, that’s fantastic because I’ve seen that. That’s what kids do. They’re so compassionate, really, and sensitive to each other. They know the stereotype is that they are, you know, they’re all evil to each other – and, I mean, some kids are probably evil to one another.

Lindsay: Yeah, but you know what? Some adults are.

Jeffrey: Right.

Lindsay: You know?

Jeffrey: Oh, yeah. But these kids are so compassionate when you give them the opportunity. And so, I thought, that’s kind of how I like to do it in the show where the kids are unexpectedly compassionate with one another. It’s just – I don’t know – it’s kind of heart-warming. I like it.

Lindsay: Well, you’ve got that scene where the girl who is the “stereotype slut” who’s in the gynecologist’s office and who does she come across but the kid who is… He’s sort of like an Asperger’s, very much outsider, and he’s the one who offers her some kindness.

Jeffrey: Right. I love it. It’s just, like, you know, the last place you’d expect to get some compassion from somebody and he just totally steps up. I mean, I love that but, you know, we get to see that in schools all the time. You know, all you’ve got to do is throw it out there and kids will respond.

Lindsay: So, you’ve been teaching for twenty-something years so you see a lot of teenagers, you know, come in and out of your doors. Is that where you look for inspiration for your characters?

Jeffrey: Yeah. I think that’s where the fun is. There are those quirky kids, the ones that are a little bit different, a little outside the box, because they make great characters on stage, and you can just kind of blow them up a little bit more, and have fun with them, and put words into their mouths, and just kind of put them in unique scenarios, and there you go. So, yeah, it’s not hard to find, you know, inspiration when you’re dealing with teenagers. There’s so much variety there.

Lindsay: Do you think that’s how it is that you’re able to write for them as well? Because you are listening to them, you’re listening to how they talk, you’re watching them interact?

Jeffrey: Yeah. I think, you know, when you’re immersed in that world, it’s impossible not to have some of it rub off on you, and I’m a huge YA reader. I just love all things young adult –

the literature and you know. I don’t know.

Lindsay: What’s your favorite?

Jeffrey: Oh, God. That’s difficult. John Green.

Lindsay: All of them!

Jeffrey: Yeah. How about John Green? Everybody loves John Green.

Lindsay: So, where do you see yourself going next with your writing?

Jeffrey: Well, I don’t know. I mean, I’ve written novels and I’ve done poetry and I’ve been dabbling a lot, but I like that the plays are so much more fun because I get to see the kids doing them. You know, you write a poem, you’re like, “It’s a great poem. Cool,” and you maybe share it and everyone’s like, “Yeah.” But a play is, like, there’s an audience there and the kids are doing it and it’s fantastic. So, I’d like to keep writing. I just kind of wait for something to come along – you know, a good idea – and just sit down and usually get cranking on something and crank it out when it’s really happening, you know.

Lindsay: You’re in a very interesting and enviable position as that because it’s a passion project. Those are passion project for you.

Jeffrey: Oh, yeah.

Lindsay: So, you really just sort of, you can wait until something really hits you. Do you ever have writer’s block?

Jeffrey: Not really. Like you say, I don’t force myself to write all the time – I just kind of wait. That’s how it usually happens with me. It’s just that I get an idea and I’m like “What if?” It’s usually a what-if kind of thing like Stephen King says, you know? “What if this kid went to the gynecologist office and hooked up with, you know, the last person in school she’d want to see there?” Boom! And then it just kind of goes from there. Once you get in that scene, it just comes out. I just wait for those moments. They come pretty regularly and then you’ve just got to crank it out. But, yeah, like you say, it’s fun when you’re invested.

Lindsay: I love it. Awesome. Okay. So, thank you so much for sitting down and talking to me. And we want to remind everybody that Stereotype High is available and we have a ton of other small, short, wonderful plays. You’re Cosplaying My Song which I think is my favorite of your one-acts. I love the two characters who are sort of hiding behind their cosplay characters and then revealing who they are underneath. I think that’s awesome.

If You Can’t Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘Em Cry which is, I think, the most wonderful audition moment. Building Blocks which is really great. Actually, Building Blocks is a really great sort of look at the stereotype of parents and how kids take on what their parents say to them. And then, my second favorite, Master of Puppets which is the best guidance counselor moment that does involve puppets.

Jeffrey: Yeah, the guidance counselor’s one of my favorite people. She’s so funny.

Lindsay: You know, it’s like, you know, she really is going to crack. As soon as the scene is over, she’s like, you know, there’s gin in her desk and she’s cracking. And then, one which is really great, C’mon and Dance which has no words which I love that we’re able to provide something that’s a little bit different. And that’s it! That’s what we’ve got. So, thank you for sharing a little bit of your Saturday with me.

Jeffrey: Thank you and thank you for everything you do!

Lindsay: Ah, well, we’re going to keep on doing it and you keep writing, we’ll keep you in.

Jeffrey: All right!

Lindsay: Awesome. Thanks, Jeffrey!

Jeffrey: Thank you!

Before we go, let’s do some THEATREFOLK NEWS.

I really want to make sure everyone knows about one of our in-depth blog posts, Using Arts Statistics. You know – everybody knows – how the arts can be really hard to quantify, describe in numbers, especially to those who make decisions about whether or not your job or your drama program is going to stay or go. But the thing is, you have to use this framework, you have to use a frame that they are going to appreciate, and that’s going to mean turning the arts into numbers. So, get this article, see if the

tips and reference studies work for you to do this. There’s lots of information, there’s lots of websites for you to check out, and there is also a great infographic that you can download, and it’s all about what students involved in the arts do, complete with numbers! We’re happy to get this out into the world and, as of right now, the infographic has been seen over 36,000 times on Facebook which is just blowing my mind. It’s awesome.

So, you can find a link to the article and the infographic and sample pages from Jeffrey Harr’s play Stereotype High – oh it’s choc-a-block – in the show notes for this episode which is theatrefolk.com/episode79.

And finally, where, oh, where can you find this podcast? We post new episodes every Wednesday at

theatrefolk.com and on our Facebook page and Twitter. You can find us on youtube.com/theatrefolk. You can find us on the Stitcher app AND you can subscribe to TFP on iTunes. All you have to do is search for the word “Theatrefolk” and there we are all shiny and new – well, not so new, but we try to be shiny.

And that’s where we are going to do. Take care, my friends, take care.

Lindsay: I love it. Awesome. Okay. So, thank you so much for sitting down and talking to me. And we want to remind everybody that Stereotype High is available and we have a ton of other small, short, wonderful plays. You’re Cosplaying My Song which I think is my favorite of your one-acts. I love the two characters who are sort of hiding behind their cosplay characters and then revealing who they are underneath. I think that’s awesome.

If You Can’t Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘Em Cry which is, I think, the most wonderful audition moment. Building Blocks which is really great. Actually, Building Blocks is a really great sort of look at the stereotype of parents and how kids take on what their parents say to them. And then, my second favorite, Master of Puppets which is the best guidance counselor moment that does involve puppets.

Jeffrey: Yeah, the guidance counselor’s one of my favorite people. She’s so funny.

Lindsay: You know, it’s like, you know, she really is going to crack. As soon as the scene is over, she’s like, you know, there’s gin in her desk and she’s cracking. And then, one which is really great, C’mon and Dance which has no words which I love that we’re able to provide something that’s a little bit different. And that’s it! That’s what we’ve got. So, thank you for sharing a little bit of your Saturday with me.

Jeffrey: Thank you and thank you for everything you do!

Lindsay: Ah, well, we’re going to keep on doing it and you keep writing, we’ll keep you in.

Jeffrey: All right!

Lindsay: Awesome. Thanks, Jeffrey!

Jeffrey: Thank you!

Before we go, let’s do some THEATREFOLK NEWS.

I really want to make sure everyone knows about one of our in-depth blog posts, Using Arts Statistics. You know – everybody knows – how the arts can be really hard to quantify, describe in numbers, especially to those who make decisions about whether or not your job or your drama program is going to stay or go. But the thing is, you have to use this framework, you have to use a frame that they are going to appreciate, and that’s going to mean turning the arts into numbers. So, get this article, see if the tips and reference studies work for you to do this. There’s lots of information, there’s lots of websites for you to check out, and there is also a great infographic that you can download, and it’s all about what students involved in the arts do, complete with numbers! We’re happy to get this out into the world and, as of right now, the infographic has been seen over 36,000 times on Facebook which is just blowing my mind. It’s awesome.

So, you can find a link to the article and the infographic and sample pages from Jeffrey Harr’s play Stereotype High – oh it’s choc-a-block – in the show notes for this episode which is theatrefolk.com/episode79.

And that’s where we are going to do. Take care, my friends, take care.

Music credit:”Ave” by Alex (feat. Morusque) is licensed under a Creative Commons license.